Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in Utah
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,416
after federal, FICA and Utah tax
Tax takes
$10,914
20.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,701
Utah costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Utah — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$54,330
Kept after tax
$43,416
Worth in national money
$45,701
State rank
34
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Utah is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $54,330, ranking 34 of 49 states — about 5.4% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 487 occupations Utah reports figures for, this is number 268.
- Here is where Utah does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $54,330 you keep $43,416, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,701 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $56,280, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Utah ranks 34 of 49 for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining, with a median of $54,330 — about 5.4% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In Utah's occupational distribution, excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining sits at 268 of 487 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and Utah income tax, retained pay for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining on $54,330 is $43,416. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,701 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $56,280 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,180 |
| This salary | $54,330 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Utah | $43,416 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,834 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,466 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $51,321 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,773 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 95 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Utah earn less than $54,330. The published range is $46,560 up to $69,180, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $43,416 take-home in Utah comes from $54,330. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 268 of 487.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,701 uses one figure for the whole of Utah. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 487 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 268.
- Reported values are medians; for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in Utah the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,560 to $69,180. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $43,416, from $54,330, assumes a single Utah filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 268 of 487 locally, and the state ranks 34 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,701, worked from $54,330, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Utah address, on work sitting at 268 of 487 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $56,280 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $46,560 at the tenth percentile, $69,180 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Utah is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $45,701 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Utah adds its own income tax on top — which is why $43,416 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Utah is $56,280. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,560 to $69,180) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Utah rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Utah's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $45,701 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $43,416 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Utah income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.